A Couple’s Getaway on a Windswept Island in Quebec Riffs on Tradition

Set in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Magdalen Islands are as far from terra firma as you can get within the province of Quebec. At their windswept shores, rolling meadows and sand dunes give way to red cliffs, which tumble like crinkled curtains to the sea. Time passes slowly on the archipelago, which is one of the reasons Vincent Morel and Jan-Nicolas Vanderveken built their vacation home there. Vincent, who spent childhood summers on the islands, knew this was a place where he could decompress, dive into the sea, and feel the sand under his feet.